WEEK SIX: Five questions...Of Dreams and Youth and Possibilities
Author in charge this week: Brett Battles
1. Children have so many dreams. Small ones, large ones. They dream of being astronauts, of becoming a princess or a queen or even a king. As we grew older, our dreams became the shape our futures would take. So my first question is when you were young what did you envision your future to be? And as a follow up, how does it compare to where you eventually arrived?
2. I sometimes fantasize about being able to travel back in time, but not in my current mid-forties body. I wonder what it would be like to become who I was in high school or college but with the knowledge and patience I’ve gained in the years since. Second question…if you could go back and become yourself at a certain time in life which time would you choose and why? And if you could only take one bit of knowledge or one trait you’ve gained as you’ve grown older (but not too old!), what would it be? And why again?
3. As a writer, I started off as a reader. I began reading book after book when I was probably around 8 or 9. For me, initially it was mysteries then science fiction. Were you a reader as a youth? If so, what kind of books did you read? Who were some of your favorite authors at the time?
4. Back to the scenario in the first question…I’m wondering if there are any dreams you had which you did not achieve but are still working on, or hoping to achieve? What are they?
5. There are many books in my life that have meant something to me. Books and stories that have stayed with me over the years. Some make me smile, some make me think, some even make me mad. The final question…please share a book that has meant something to you, and tells why.
Showing posts with label Brett Battles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brett Battles. Show all posts
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
BRETT BATTLES - Travel, Work and Politics
1. Can you describe a favorite travel memory? It doesn’t have to be extraordinary - simple is good, too – but what is a memory of some travel experience that you treasure?
I love to travel. I’ve spent nearly two years of my life, all totaled, outside of the USA. It would be so hard to pick a single memory. Crossing the Arctic Circle in northern Finland? Going to a beer garden party in Germany? Standing in front of the statue of David in Florence?
This past week I just returned from 10 days in London and Paris where I went with my girlfriend Kelly. That was a marvelous trip I won’t soon forget.
But at the moment, if I had to name one, and this is actually pretty damn obvious, it was walking into a rundown, second floor nursery in an orphanage in Can Tho, Vietnam, and picking my daughter up out of the crib that had been her bed for months and holding her for the first time.
2. What is something you’ve learned from traveling - a lesson that you’ve tried to carry with you in the rest of your life?
That not only is everyone different, but we are all the same, too. We want to be happy. We want to love. We want to live our lives. So treating everyone with respect is so important.
3. I’ve been doing a bit of reading about work and careers lately, and came across this quote: “Jump, and a net will appear.” What does that say to you, if anything, and does it apply in any way to your own life?
It says that sometimes you’ve just got to take the opportunity and go for it. Kind of like what I did in September…I decided that my writing career was going well enough that I could quit my day job and trying writing full time for a while. There is no guarantee that I’ll be able to keep it up forever, but I needed to try. And so I am.
4. Here is another quote about work and life choices that I recently discovered: “I must simplify my life, and whittle down what I do to the things that I am absolutely the most passionate about, or else I risk being stuck in mediocrity.” Similarly, what does that say to you, if anything, and does it apply to your own life?
Yes and no…see, as a writer I think it’s important to have my hand in a lot of different things. Jack-of-all-trades kind of thing. I’m just interested in so many different things, that to give one up seems a waste. And, ultimately, I end up using a lot of them in my work. And since writing is what I am MOST passionate about, it all works out.
5. The U.S presidential election is on Tuesday. By the time you have to answer this question, we’ll know the outcome of the vote. How do you think the result of this election affects how the world views the U.S.? (Or, if you prefer, how you personally view the U.S., or how the U.S. might view itself?)
I honestly thought before this election, and still think now that it is over, that Barack Obama was the only candidate that could drastically change the view of America in the world. To me that was one of the main reasons I voted for him. Because, though many Americans don’t think this way, I believe that the world is too small to think only about ourselves. We are citizens of the world first, and how we treat each other, how we respect each other, how we listen to each other is so very important. I think Obama was the only choice – even as far back as the primaries – who could bring credibility to America’s effort to embrace the rest of the world. Now it remains to be seen if he actually does.
I love to travel. I’ve spent nearly two years of my life, all totaled, outside of the USA. It would be so hard to pick a single memory. Crossing the Arctic Circle in northern Finland? Going to a beer garden party in Germany? Standing in front of the statue of David in Florence?
This past week I just returned from 10 days in London and Paris where I went with my girlfriend Kelly. That was a marvelous trip I won’t soon forget.
But at the moment, if I had to name one, and this is actually pretty damn obvious, it was walking into a rundown, second floor nursery in an orphanage in Can Tho, Vietnam, and picking my daughter up out of the crib that had been her bed for months and holding her for the first time.
2. What is something you’ve learned from traveling - a lesson that you’ve tried to carry with you in the rest of your life?
That not only is everyone different, but we are all the same, too. We want to be happy. We want to love. We want to live our lives. So treating everyone with respect is so important.
3. I’ve been doing a bit of reading about work and careers lately, and came across this quote: “Jump, and a net will appear.” What does that say to you, if anything, and does it apply in any way to your own life?
It says that sometimes you’ve just got to take the opportunity and go for it. Kind of like what I did in September…I decided that my writing career was going well enough that I could quit my day job and trying writing full time for a while. There is no guarantee that I’ll be able to keep it up forever, but I needed to try. And so I am.
4. Here is another quote about work and life choices that I recently discovered: “I must simplify my life, and whittle down what I do to the things that I am absolutely the most passionate about, or else I risk being stuck in mediocrity.” Similarly, what does that say to you, if anything, and does it apply to your own life?
Yes and no…see, as a writer I think it’s important to have my hand in a lot of different things. Jack-of-all-trades kind of thing. I’m just interested in so many different things, that to give one up seems a waste. And, ultimately, I end up using a lot of them in my work. And since writing is what I am MOST passionate about, it all works out.
5. The U.S presidential election is on Tuesday. By the time you have to answer this question, we’ll know the outcome of the vote. How do you think the result of this election affects how the world views the U.S.? (Or, if you prefer, how you personally view the U.S., or how the U.S. might view itself?)
I honestly thought before this election, and still think now that it is over, that Barack Obama was the only candidate that could drastically change the view of America in the world. To me that was one of the main reasons I voted for him. Because, though many Americans don’t think this way, I believe that the world is too small to think only about ourselves. We are citizens of the world first, and how we treat each other, how we respect each other, how we listen to each other is so very important. I think Obama was the only choice – even as far back as the primaries – who could bring credibility to America’s effort to embrace the rest of the world. Now it remains to be seen if he actually does.
BRETT BATTLES - Prejudice and Stereotypes
1. What are some of the things people who don't know you very well tend to think about you?
Eh…heck if I know. If they don’t know me very well, I probably don’t know them so don’t know what they are thinking. But if I were to guess, I think they might believe that I’m a generally happy person who always likes to make the joke.
2. Which of these assumptions are true?
Sadly, yes. Okay, not sadly. But yes, to a certain extent.
3. Which stereotypes about your country are true about you, if any?
I think I’m deceptively non-stereotypical.
4. What are situations in which you find yourself to be prejudiced?
Prejudice is something that I loath. But I am prejudice, there is no denying that. I have little tolerance for those who have no tolerance. For example, it looks like we have just passed a law here in California that will deny homosexuals the right to marry. That pisses me off like you can’t believe. How can we deny rights to a certain group?? It’s just like the pre-60s America again, when blacks were not allowed to drink from the same water fountain as others in some places, or races would not be allowed to marry each other. Don’t get me started!
5. To you, what value is there in stereotypes?
In life I try to disregard stereotypes when meeting people. But I can’t say I’m always successful. Certainly there are some stereotypes that help us understand others, and there are other stereotypes that are either false or so out of date that they harm our relations with others. The fact that some people probably didn’t vote for Barack Obama merely because he was half-African-American is ridiculous to me, but it definitely happened. So is there value? On occasions. But wouldn’t it be great if we got rid of stereotypes all together? An impossibility, I know, but worth dreaming about.
Eh…heck if I know. If they don’t know me very well, I probably don’t know them so don’t know what they are thinking. But if I were to guess, I think they might believe that I’m a generally happy person who always likes to make the joke.
2. Which of these assumptions are true?
Sadly, yes. Okay, not sadly. But yes, to a certain extent.
3. Which stereotypes about your country are true about you, if any?
I think I’m deceptively non-stereotypical.
4. What are situations in which you find yourself to be prejudiced?
Prejudice is something that I loath. But I am prejudice, there is no denying that. I have little tolerance for those who have no tolerance. For example, it looks like we have just passed a law here in California that will deny homosexuals the right to marry. That pisses me off like you can’t believe. How can we deny rights to a certain group?? It’s just like the pre-60s America again, when blacks were not allowed to drink from the same water fountain as others in some places, or races would not be allowed to marry each other. Don’t get me started!
5. To you, what value is there in stereotypes?
In life I try to disregard stereotypes when meeting people. But I can’t say I’m always successful. Certainly there are some stereotypes that help us understand others, and there are other stereotypes that are either false or so out of date that they harm our relations with others. The fact that some people probably didn’t vote for Barack Obama merely because he was half-African-American is ridiculous to me, but it definitely happened. So is there value? On occasions. But wouldn’t it be great if we got rid of stereotypes all together? An impossibility, I know, but worth dreaming about.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Attachment - Brett Battles
1. What are you attached to that may ultimately be providing more pain, suffering or negativity than pleasure and benefit? And why do you continue to stay attached?
Attachments can be to things, ideas, emotions, people, hell pretty much anything. I have attachments to them all to one extent or another.
Things: Books, books everywhere. Some I’ve owned for decades. Most I’ll never open again, but can’t bring myself to get rid of or even donate to a worth cause. I hold on to ticket stubs that remind me of time spent with good friends, to pictures, to notes, to baseball cards from my youth, to a rock my daughter and I found on a hike eight years ago.
Ideas: My political beliefs, my thought that friendships don’t change just because of time and distance, my belief that everyone I meet is an equal, my feeling that there are connection you can have with people that can not be explained in words.
Emotions: A strong sense of empathy that I’ve come to rely on in helping me get to know and talk to others, the ability to be moved by the simplest things – a gesture, an act of kindness, even a touching TV commercial.
People: My girlfriend, my kids, my family, my friends.
Do any of these cause me more pain, suffering or negativity than pleasure or benefit? I don’t think anything can be measures in such black and white terms. There are probably times when any of the above could do that, but not for long. My life is very positively focused. I don’t think I could become attached to anything that did anything of those things for the long term.
2. Does your “attachment score” at the following survey indicate anything important about your feelings on attachment?
I’m secure and relaxed. Pretty much where I thought I’d be.
3. Is someone too attached to you?
Too much? No. My children and I have a healthy relationship and enjoy each other. My girlfriend and I have the best romantic relationship I’ve ever experienced: loving, supportive, understanding, and independent.
4. Share your thoughts on the following quote: “"Suffering finds its roots in your desire to be free from something that's either present for you right now or something that you fear may be present for you in the future . . . Your suffering is directly proportional to the intensity of your attachments to these passing phenomena and to the strength of your habit of seeking for some kind of personal identity in the world of forms." - Chuck Hillig
God…what’s with all the suffering questions? I have no idea if this is right. I don’t like to suffer, so I don’t. The life I have right now is so close to the one I envisioned when I was 12, it’s hard not to be happy. Suffering just drags me down, and I don’t want that. Ever.
5. Are you able to get rid of the life you’ve planned, so you can have the life that is waiting for you?
HA! A very pertinent question for me. Since I was young, fifth or sixth grade I think, I have wanted to be a novelist. To write story that people could buy in a bookstore and enjoy was my calling. I knew it. In my dream of that future (as I alluded to in the last answer) I always saw myself as being a full time writer. Now, that didn’t happen right away. I spent almost 20 years working in television. My specialization was television graphics, something that worked well for me because I didn’t have to do a lot of writing during the day. I was afraid that if I took a job that focused on writing, I wouldn’t have the energy to write my own stuff. So for years I wrote and improved my craft until finally I sold my first novel. Even then, with a three book contract in my back pocket, I wasn’t able to step away from the security of the day job. That is until this past August when I received a new contract for books 4 & 5. September 19th was my last day in the corporate world. Now I get up and work at my kitchen table living the life I’ve planned for almost forty years.
Attachments can be to things, ideas, emotions, people, hell pretty much anything. I have attachments to them all to one extent or another.
Things: Books, books everywhere. Some I’ve owned for decades. Most I’ll never open again, but can’t bring myself to get rid of or even donate to a worth cause. I hold on to ticket stubs that remind me of time spent with good friends, to pictures, to notes, to baseball cards from my youth, to a rock my daughter and I found on a hike eight years ago.
Ideas: My political beliefs, my thought that friendships don’t change just because of time and distance, my belief that everyone I meet is an equal, my feeling that there are connection you can have with people that can not be explained in words.
Emotions: A strong sense of empathy that I’ve come to rely on in helping me get to know and talk to others, the ability to be moved by the simplest things – a gesture, an act of kindness, even a touching TV commercial.
People: My girlfriend, my kids, my family, my friends.
Do any of these cause me more pain, suffering or negativity than pleasure or benefit? I don’t think anything can be measures in such black and white terms. There are probably times when any of the above could do that, but not for long. My life is very positively focused. I don’t think I could become attached to anything that did anything of those things for the long term.
2. Does your “attachment score” at the following survey indicate anything important about your feelings on attachment?
I’m secure and relaxed. Pretty much where I thought I’d be.
3. Is someone too attached to you?
Too much? No. My children and I have a healthy relationship and enjoy each other. My girlfriend and I have the best romantic relationship I’ve ever experienced: loving, supportive, understanding, and independent.
4. Share your thoughts on the following quote: “"Suffering finds its roots in your desire to be free from something that's either present for you right now or something that you fear may be present for you in the future . . . Your suffering is directly proportional to the intensity of your attachments to these passing phenomena and to the strength of your habit of seeking for some kind of personal identity in the world of forms." - Chuck Hillig
God…what’s with all the suffering questions? I have no idea if this is right. I don’t like to suffer, so I don’t. The life I have right now is so close to the one I envisioned when I was 12, it’s hard not to be happy. Suffering just drags me down, and I don’t want that. Ever.
5. Are you able to get rid of the life you’ve planned, so you can have the life that is waiting for you?
HA! A very pertinent question for me. Since I was young, fifth or sixth grade I think, I have wanted to be a novelist. To write story that people could buy in a bookstore and enjoy was my calling. I knew it. In my dream of that future (as I alluded to in the last answer) I always saw myself as being a full time writer. Now, that didn’t happen right away. I spent almost 20 years working in television. My specialization was television graphics, something that worked well for me because I didn’t have to do a lot of writing during the day. I was afraid that if I took a job that focused on writing, I wouldn’t have the energy to write my own stuff. So for years I wrote and improved my craft until finally I sold my first novel. Even then, with a three book contract in my back pocket, I wasn’t able to step away from the security of the day job. That is until this past August when I received a new contract for books 4 & 5. September 19th was my last day in the corporate world. Now I get up and work at my kitchen table living the life I’ve planned for almost forty years.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
AUTHOR BIO: Brett Battles
(updated!) BRETT BATTLES.
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